What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? is the twenty-sixth prime-time animated television special based upon the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz who introduced the special. It aired on the CBS network on two occasions: originally on May 30, 1983 (Memorial Day), and last aired on May 26, 1984 (the Saturday before Memorial Day, and ten days prior to the 40th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion).

Contents

Plot

The special opens with Charlie Brown back home, assembling a photo album of pictures taken from his trip. His younger sister Sally approaches and asks him how the trip went. From there, it is shown in a flashback:

As they begin to head back from the chateau to the train station for the return trip to London (where they would return to the US by plane), their problematic rented car (a Citroen 2CV) slows their progress, before breaking down entirely in a small French town. They ask to rent a car from a French lady (who immediately accepts the offer realizing Snoopy is, in fact a World War I Flying Ace) the group soon becomes lost and camps at a nearby beach for the night. Linus, however wakes up shortly before daybreak and walks along the beach, realizing they are at Omaha Beach.

Linus then tells the battle of D-Day, leading the group to the nearby cemetery for all of the American soldiers. The voice of General Dwight D. Eisenhower is also heard, reminiscing about the experiences of the battle. Archival news footage is also used, in some cases with the characters inserted through rotoscoping.

While preceeding up north, the group heads toward Ypres, which Linus recognizes as the site of a series of battles during World War I. They arrive at a field of red poppies, which grew through the wastelands of battles fought during the war, and which serve as a marker for the Ypres battle site. Linus then recites the poem, "In Flanders Fields", after directing the group to the British field dressing station where McCrae was inspired to write the poem.

They come away realizing what the impact of the war was and how important the sacrifice of the soldiers was. Standing among the field of red poppies, Linus then turns and asks, "What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?". The scene then flashes back to Charlie Brown and Sally. Sally then tells Charlie Brown that he is pasting the pictures in the album upside down.